Guardians Baseball Insider

Lake County is 5-2 over their last seven games, 4th in High-A Central East

The Lake County Captains are one game over .500 at 16-15 as they leave the 25% completed mark for the season in their rearview mirror. The Cleveland Indians High-A affiliate is fourth in their division & 1.5 games out of first place.

Day-by-Day

6/1: L 9-10 vs. Dayton; W: Gilbert (3-0); L: Gallagher (0-2); SV: Roxby (2)

6/3: Game 1: W 6-3 vs. Dayton; W: Allen (3-0); L: Garcia (1-1); SV: Enright (1)

Game 2: W 1-0 vs. Dayton; W: Herrin (2-1); L: Fisher (0-1)

6/4: W 8-4 vs. Dayton; W: Burns (1-2); L: Davis (0-4)

6/5: L 4-15 vs. Dayton; W: Ashcraft (3-1); L: Coulter (2-1)

6/6: W 14-4 vs. Dayton; W: Hickman (2-2); L: Stockton (2-1)

6/7: W 8-3 vs. Fort Wayne; W: Gaddis (2-2); L: Bencomo (3-1)

Player of the Week

OF Will Brennan: 7-22, 2 2B, 7 RBI, 4 R, 2 BB, .920 OPS

The outfielder selected out of Kansas State University in the 2019 MLB Draft was the engine for the Lake County offense during a week where everyone was on point. Brennan led the team in hits, plate appearances, runs scored, runs batted in, and was amongst team leaders for other offensive categories. He is sixth amongst all qualified hitters in the High-A Central in wRC+, fourth in batting average, and tied for first in doubles.

Who’s Hot

SS Brayan Rocchio: 7-20, 3 2B, 3 RBI, 5 R, 1 BB, 1.209 OPS

Infielder Brayan Rocchio has been off to a slow start so far this season, but this week was a sign of life as he accumulated five extra-base hits in five games. It will be interesting to see how the top prospect performs this year, as he is one of the ten youngest players in High-A East, he has not played in almost two years, and he was stuck in Venezuela during 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. Hopefully, Rocchio’s performance over the last seven games Lake County has played is a sign of things to come for the switch-hitting shortstop.

2B Aaron Bracho: 4-16, 2 RBI, 3 R, 4 BB, .838 OPS

The Indians organization gave Bracho the largest signing bonus of the lauded 2017 J2 signing class that included teammates George Valera, Brayan Rocchio, and Jose Tena, and so far in his pro career, Bracho has shown why. When healthy, there is an argument that he is the best hitter of the quartet. His ability to work the count and draw walks was on display over the Captains’ last seven games, as he almost walked more than he struck out. The infielder is a switch-hitter from Venezuela who dealt with the same issues Rocchio faced last year due to the pandemic, along with the long layoff that prevented him from getting reps in a game environment.

1B Joe Naranjo: 6-15, 1 RBI, 4 R, 6 BB, 1.038 OPS

1B Joe Naranjo was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 2019 MLB Draft, and he was one of the youngest players in his draft class. He is also one of the youngest players in High-A East, as he just turned 20 years old a bit over a month ago. Naranjo walked more than he struck out, and that is what stood out to me from his slash-line over the last seven games he’s played. He’s also scored a good amount of runs and has a double to his name to go along with his five hits. It will be important to see how well he performs down the stretch for Lake County in his first taste of full-season professional baseball, especially in the later months.

SP Tanner Burns: 1 GS, 6 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 6 SO, 0 BB

Tanner Burns has been excellent in his first stint of pro ball, showing the stereotypical signs of “advanced college pitcher”. Burns and the two other college pitchers selected by the Indians during the 2020 MLB Draft who are his rotation-mates at Lake County are really pushing the envelope, as they’ve all had a resounding amount of success so far to begin their professional careers. As we slowly creep towards the 120 game mark, will Burns still be in High-A? Find out on the next episode of Dragon Ba-oh wait, this isn’t a cartoon and I am not narrating the cartoon.

RP Nathan Ocker: 2 G, 3.2 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 4 SO, 0 BB

Nathan Ocker pitched three and two thirds big innings for a Lake County pitching staff that was banged up and tired. While he did give up two hits in four innings, the camel’s back did not break as he was able to come out unscathed. Ocker has been very effective in his brief pro career so far after being drafted by the Indians in the 29th round of the 2019 MLB Draft out of the College of Charleston, in Charleston, South Carolina.

Who’s Not

INF/OF Victor Nova: 3-15, 2 RBI, 2 R, 4 SO, 2 BB

Nova was acquired by the Indians in the Trevor Bauer trade as a throw-in piece from San Diego. He has versatility, a good eye at the plate, and is athletic. Nothing in Nova’s slash line particularly stands out as problematic, he just was cold during a period when his teammates were clicking at the plate. Nova is probably still knocking the rust off, in addition to this being his first time as a professional baseball player outside of the complex leagues(DSL/AZL).

RP Kevin Coulter: 1 G, 1.2 IP, 10 H, 7 ER, 1 SO, 0 BB

Kevin Coulter was the opener for the Captains in a bullpen game, making the first professional start of his career. Everything that could go wrong for the righty did, as opponents were hitting bloop singles to get on base and then started barreling up offerings Coulter left over the heart of the dish to drive in runners on base. Coulter did not have any feel for his stuff, as a large majority of the pitches opponents did damage on were middle-middle offerings.

Up Next

6/9: @ Fort Wayne, 7:05 p.m.

6/10: @ Fort Wayne, 7:05 p.m.

6/11: @ Fort Wayne, 7:05 p.m.

6/12: @ Fort Wayne, 6:35 p.m.

6/13: @ Fort Wayne, 1:05 p.m.